The difference between the CSS font-family and font-size properties

In CSS, the font-family and font-size properties are used to control the typography of text on a web page.

The font-family property is used to set the font for an element. The value for this property is a list of font names, with the first being the preferred font. If the browser does not support the first font, it will try to use the next one, and so on. The font-family property allows you to use specific fonts that are not available on all devices. It's possible to set multiple font families separated by commas.

p {
  font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}

In this example, the text within the <p> element will be rendered in Arial if the device supports it, otherwise it will fall back to Helvetica, and finally, to any other available sans-serif font.

The font-size property, on the other hand, sets the size of the text. The value for this property can be set in several units, such as pixels (px), ems (em) or points (pt). Pixels and points are absolute units, while ems are relative to the font size of the parent element.

p {
  font-size: 16px; /* or */
  font-size: 1.2em;
}

In this example, the text within the <p> element will be rendered with a font size of 16 pixels or 1.2 times the size of the font size of its parent element.

It's important to note that font-size and font-family are independent properties and they can be set separately. They can also be grouped and set together in a shorthand property font.

p {
  font: 16px Arial, sans-serif;
}

In this example, the text within the <p> element will be rendered with a font size of 16 pixels and font family Arial, and as a fallback sans-serif.

In summary, the font-family property is used to set the font for an element, while the font-size property is used to set the size of the text. The font-family allows the use of specific fonts that may not be available on all devices, and font-size can be set in multiple units, such as pixels, ems, and points.

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